by Paula | Mar 27, 2018 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
The grand-girls have departed after a lively extended weekend. I am savoring many special memories from the last four days, including a surprise 21st birthday party for Guzzy, my youngest; and a whirlwind girls-only trip to Chicago with my oldest daughter, Kelly, and her four year old twin girls.
Unfortunately, Kelly was not the only parent with the idea of spending a few family days in the the Windy City during spring break. While our hotel and the Field Museum were crowded, they were manageable with a bit of patience. Today was another story –The Shedd Aquarium was wall-to-wall humanity. We spent more time standing in line (for parking, for tickets, for the bathroom, for lunch, etc.) than we spent enjoying the displays–which while very impressive; were difficult to appreciate due to the sheer quantity of humans vying for viewing space.
The energetic grand girls were troopers through all of it, and came up with a new name for me: “Gramita”, which gives a nice Mexican twist to my former title of ‘grandma’.
Now, Kelly and girls are on the road back to Minneapolis, and I am enjoying the healing silence of home. It is balm to my ears.
Due to the aforementioned family events, I was not able to participate in this weekend’s March for our Lives Rally, but have been catching up online. There were many powerful and inspirational speeches, and none more so than that of Emma Gonzales; one of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting Survivors; who maintained a stoic and tearful silence for 6 minutes, the amount of time it took for the shooting to take place. The Silence was Powerful. Emma allowed us the opportunity to listen with our hearts, and not our ears.
In a time when the adults are fleeing the White House: either of their own accord, or by edict from the Toddler-in-Chief; it is only fitting that our youth should show us what leadership looks and sounds like. They give us hope and inspiration. Listen to it… change is in the air.
by Paula | Mar 21, 2018 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
I am the lucky beneficiary of circumstances of birth that were completely out of my control. My DNA has served me quite well; although better eyesight and an extra dose of growth hormones would have been nice–overall, I can’t complain.
As a white woman, I will never fully understand the experience of those with darker skin. I cannot shed the privilege that emanates from my pale skin, and to which I have been largely oblivious to most of my life. Although I didn’t ask for my white skin; I can no longer deny the relative power that it gives me.
Similarly, many men are unaware of the power and privilege inherent in their maleness; as they have never experienced the world as a woman. I recently listened to a fascinating Ted Talk by Paula Stone Williams, a Transgender woman who shared her experiences of living as both a man and a woman. Paula described the dramatic change in how people treated her after her transition. Spoiler alert–Paula experienced more hostility and less respect than she did as a man. (And…Yes, Paula is her real name– I chose to believe she would be tickled to be cited in a blog called paulaponders).
This is not a zero-sum game. If any of us are oppressed, we are all diminished. I believe we have a responsibility to use our relative privilege to advocate for others whose voices may otherwise be diminished or dismissed.
So – Be brave! Make a plan to speak up on behalf of yourself or someone else … the ‘next’ time. You will be glad you did.
Epilogue: I reached out to Paula Stone Williams via email to make her aware of this post, and to make sure she didn’t object; she couldn’t have been more gracious. It turns out she was the prior owner of the paulaponders.com url. Small world!!!
by Paula | Mar 11, 2018 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
Change itself is normal. Life around us does not hold still; the seasons change, children grow up, people get sick, we change jobs, and so on. There is a certain degree of predictability, or (at least) advanced warnings to most significant changes, and we modify our expectations accordingly.
However, the changes we are seeing on our national political scene are not normal. Nothing has been ‘normal’ since we handed the presidency to an unqualified Reality TV buffoon. Ever in character, The D’s administration has gleefully eschewed any semblance of normal with an ongoing display of erratic, unpredictable and bizarre behavior. Bizarre is The D’s normal.
This is not a ‘politics as usual’ disagreement on policies. Trying to discern The D’s actual policies is like chasing a rainbow–his policy positions are mirages that shift and change shape along with the prevailing cable news winds–sometimes dissipating altogether. Where does the D stand on gun control? On DACA, on North Korea, on import tariff exemptions, on Jared’s security clearance? The answer depends on which talking head he watched most recently on Fox News.
The D’s primary (and possibly only) concern is his own fame. He demands constant attention and acts like a sulking child if/when the spotlight shifts off his orange noggin for a nano-second; and like a sulking child, will act out in outrageous ways to regain the spotlight. Unfortunately, for all of us, The D’s temper tantrums result in ill-considered tweets, executive orders, or other directives that create division, chaos and confusion; with the potential to ruin people’s lives and/or livelihoods.
By many accounts, the D doesn’t read and regularly disregards his advisors – often dismissing them as boring. He feels that his own intuition is greater than anyone else’s knowledge, and openly disdains those that actually do their homework. His staff have short shelf-lives, as they either quit in disgust, or cannot sustain a sufficient level of grovelling to maintain their position.
As Americans, we need to resist the trend towards ignorance, divisiveness and governing by intimidation and fear-mongering. We cannot and should not accept this as normal. I refuse to believe that The D represents who we are as a nation.
I am much heartened by the activism displayed by our young people in the wake of the Parkland High shooting; they have interjected a much-needed boost of youthful passion to the gun control debate, and have given us much reason for optimism and faith that reason may once again prevail.
by Paula | Mar 19, 2017 | Paula Persists, Uncategorized
It has been a rough week for The D. Despite having slept or tweeted through basic civics lessons and intelligence briefings he is learning the hard way that there really are three branches of government, and that his words and actions have consequences.
How disconcerting for The D to have his latest travel ban struck down, using his own words to interpret intent. The D has been remarkably successful in avoiding any consequences associated with his outrageous statements and/or tweets. However, this week, a ‘so-called’ judge from Hawaii referenced The D’s own words to determine the intent of the travel ban as a way to prevent Muslims from entering the country. (Yet another excellent reason to move to Hawaii.)
How troubling for The D to be criticized for his lack of evidence to support his tweets accusing Obama of wiretapping. The D does not feel it is necessary to validate any information he infers or gleans from cable news shows before tweeting misinformation to the world. Prudence is not in The D’s vocabulary. He is the master of setting a ‘perception’ based on his own wishful thinking–perceptions which take hold in the minds of his faithful. He never lets so-called ‘facts’ get in the way of his beliefs. However, these tweets are being challenged on numerous fronts.
How upsetting for The D to have his name associated with the Alternative health care proposal put forth by Paul Ryan (a.k.a the Fourth Stooge). This plan has been widely panned as Dead on Arrival and is opposed by hospitals, the AMA, Republicans and Democrats, AARP, and anyone who has in-depth knowledge of health care–including my friend Jean. (Who KNEW it could be so complicated??)
The Congressional Budget office (using a technique foreign to the current administration called ‘math’) determined that 14 million people would lose coverage in 2018 and 24 million people would lose coverage by 2020.
Certainly The D himself hasn’t demonstrated enthusiasm for the plan; although on the campaign trail he promised a plan that would ‘cover everybody and be a fraction of the cost’. Where is this magic pixie dust Donald? I really want some!
How distressing for The D to be critized for his proposed budget and his outlandishly lavish spending at tax payer expense. It is dismaying, but no real surprise that the proposed budget slashes popular programs such as Meals on Wheels, NPR, and the EPA. Apparently, we cannot afford meals for shut-ins, but we are shelling out millions for endless golf weekends at Mar-A-Lago (tax money that ends up going to The D himself, cause he owns the place), and $183 Million for Melania and Barron to continue to live in NYC.
Finally, The D closed the week by demonstrating a remarkable lack of class and grace by refusing to shake Angela Merkle’s hand. What an ass. It’s really embarrassing to be an American lately.
The good news is that some checks and balances are finally, belatedly, coming into focus. Concerned Americans continue to speak up in vast numbers, Hard questions are being asked by the media, and investigations continue. Let’s hope the march towards some degree of sanity and accountability is just beginning–with more challenging weeks in the near future for The D.
by Paula | Mar 8, 2017 | Paula Persists
It is the wee hours of the night. My monkey-mind is keeping me awake, and I foolishly went to my FaceBook feed in an attempt to bore myself to sleep. Bad move. I got sucked into a couple vicious political exchanges; which led to more pondering.
The D continues to have his faithful supporters. They accuse his detractors of being overly critical. One poster recently queried – what has he done that is so wrong? Many replies articulately and calmly laid out an extensive inventory of mis-steps, ridiculous tweets, unconstitutional executive orders, lies, and more. I will spare you the full run-down.
The defense provided by his supporters, including his appointed representatives as well as those on FB, are consistently a variation of this theme: “Whatever… but the important thing is that The D is WAY better than Obama — that guy was horrible! “.
Somehow, this argument is used to justify anything and everything. However, it is no argument at all–it is a transparent gas-lighting technique to avoid accountability by shifting the focus to another target or topic. Any High School debator, worth their salt (or evidence cards) could see through that tactic. And I speak from much nerdy debate experience.
The D is a master of this technique-never accepting any blame or acknowledging his mistakes by aggressively attacking and shifting blame to others. Obama is one of his favorite targets, along with most of the media, Nordstroms, immigrants, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Americans tend to be an emotional bunch–we make decisions and align our loyalties based on emotion. And, once we have made up our minds on something, no amount of factual information or ‘real news’ will sway us from our views. Social media tailors our feeds to show us what we want to see–what we already agree with; while also giving us a false sense that we are keeping up with the ‘news’ .
We seem to turning into a post-fact society, where information is readily available, but facts are hard to discern. This is what keeps me up at night (as well as Stephen Colbert wicked monologues). A charismatic candidate with a sound bite that resonates and lots of media exposure, can be elected without benefit of experience, credentials or actionable policies. It does not bode well for our future.
And that is why an inexperienced, immature, vengeful and impulsive man has the nuclear codes.
It’s a wonder I sleep at all.
